Lukara
by Alumina
Summary: Luka x Jahara oneshot. Goes along with anime. May contain spoilers past episode 24. Not as fluffy as other oneshots.


TaiChi Chasers fanfic

**This is my favorite pairing in the series that I did notice hints starting at the end of episode 14, though there were more starting at episode two that I noticed after watching the episode again.**

**I got the pairing name from combining the beginning and ending three letters of their names. I couldn't find an official name pairing.**

**I went through the first twenty-four episodes to get the content for this and made notes on everything. When I read them later there was some lack of description, but I didn't feel like going back through them/I had a deadline that I did miss (and many more after that).**

**If there are any mistakes I'll correct them and if there is really a lack of description I apologize for that. This is noticeable with episode 19.**

**Note that this will be a lot easier to understand if you watched the first twenty-four episodes and know some of them by number. Each part has the episode number with it. It will be mixed with anime and original content. Most of the episodes won't be fully described, except for 19 and 22, which are major Luka episodes that involve Jahara (either directly or indirectly). A lot of the lines from the anime will be altered just a little to make the oneshot shorter. Though some of them will be accurate, as far as the English dub goes. I haven't been able to find a subbed version of the whole series yet, so…**

**A lot of this looked differently on paper and a part I thought was good turned out just a little creepy when I typed it on the Word Document (and no it's not the Dream Luka moment in episode 16. I was too scared to watch that moment again.) So I edited that to make it less creepy.**

**I'm pretty sure I have most of the English names correct. I know they changed a few of them to different names. So let me know if any of those have mistakes. I'll be using the English names because I only know a few in Korean.**

**For the names used for the characters I'm pretty sure the only changes were Pin to Finn and Lai to Rai.**

**When I was writing this I was really tempted to add an OC (hint hint) but then I remembered she isn't part of the anime so her appearance would make no sense.**

**_Italics that are not in someone's speech will usually mean Luka's thoughts in third person. _**

**And if anyone knows how Mishckha's name is actually spelled, I'd like to know. I've seen at least five different ways it's been spelled and I'm really only guessing. (Does anyone else think he looks kind of like LuceMon from Digimon Frontier? You know, the angel-boy one closer to the end that has multiple wings.)**

**I'm also not sure if their home-world is spelled Sahn.**

**And because I'm not sure about Ave having a different name in the other languages and because I don't know how well his name will translate into other languages, he's the one that uses whips a lot, has a freakishly long forked tongue and looks kind of like a snake.**

**I do not own a lot of the content in this. Only the original stuff.**

**Oh and as a note near the end it will be spoiler-ish for those who haven't seen past episode 26.**

* * *

2

"Luka!" He looked up to see Jahara and Ave standing on a floating, round platform. "Luka, what are you doing? Don't waste your time on him, he's just a human. You have to come back."

"I don't take orders from you, Jahara." If he went to her without any argument while Ave was standing there, they'd likely never hear the end of "the former Royal Guard Second-In-Command obeying the weaker, more common Dragonoid Warrior" along with other insults.

Ave set his hand on Jahara's shoulder. "Technically he's right about that, sweetie." **(He's so creepy!)**

Jahara glared at him. "Stay out of this Ave!" She looked back at Luka. "If we have to we'll use force to bring you back."

"All right. I'm coming." Luka walked towards the platform. It was only because she asked him he listened. If it were anyone else, especially Ave, they'd have to knock him out first.

"Come back and fight!" Rai shouted. He was prevented from running after him, as Ave was challenging him to a fight.

Luka back-flipped up onto the platform. He agreed to Ave asking to battle Rai. That idiot wouldn't be able to win, anyway. The other Tigeroids were probably coming to help Rai by now.

Jahara made the threat in her voice clear. "Don't. Be. Long."

The platform began to move back towards one of the Dragonoid airships.

"Luka, why were you fighting him?"

"He may be a threat someday. He fought me yesterday and he used Tai Chi without an Activator."

"And you didn't tell Ave this?"

"He wouldn't have listened anyway."

5

She used her Break Tai Chi to give her sword energy and began to attack the tiger-like robots. As usual, she defeated her previous record of how many she could defeat in under a minute.

"Impressive," he said, revealing his presence. "Real battles aren't so easy to win."

Jahara smiled, taking this as a challenge, like she always did after the light teasing. "Maybe not for you."

"We'll see about that."

He held back throughout the sparring match, at times using just a little more force to help her increase her skill. It ended when a small black dragon nearly got hit, yelping.

"What do you want, Duran?" Luka asked, annoyed.

"The General wants to speak with Jahara."

Jahara sighed a little. "We can pick up where we left off later?"

Luka nodded and watched her leave before glaring at Duran.

"What?"

Jahara didn't come back until several hours later, without the Tai Chi.

"It reacted to the boy and he got it."

Just like before when he used Fire… "We'll keep that in mind for the next time."

Jahara nodded.

7

Luka watched the constantly flashing lightning not far outside the large, stone room's window. It wasn't much of a distraction from Ave and Garnia trying to prove who was stronger again. They wouldn't stop until Jahara got there and asked for her and his opinions. The answer was always the same: No Comment.

The argument would never be settled unless they battled. That battle would likely never happen, as Garnia was the senior warrior and thus had a lot more battle experience than any of the others. True Ave had the most variety of cards out of all of them, but when it came to his knowledge of using Tai Chi was as great. Unlike them, he passed on the change to try using another's Tai Chi, in case it was ever needed.

The two arguing warriors barely noticed Jahara approaching. Luka gave her a nod in greeting as she passed him and leaned comfortably against the high windowsill instead of going to her usual spot at the round table. Jahara watched, getting annoyed. She glanced outside, studying the pattern of the lightning strikes, knowing it quite well already. She looked back, smiling and took a deep breath. "HEY!"

Garnia and Ave stopped and looked in her direction just as a huge flash of lightning flashed behind her, making her look very threatening and they twitched in response, neither of them noticing Luka hadn't gotten startled. They greeted her.

"We have more important things to worry about."

That got them talking about Rai. Luka didn't pay a lot of attention. He already knew there was something strange about him, the theory he had that Rai could just possibly be half-Dragonoid. It wasn't very likely, but if that wasn't the case, than why was he much stronger than a normal Tigeroid and able to use Tai Chi cards despite seeing them for the first time? And from what he heard from Garnia about Rai combining Fire and Aggressive to create the Dragonoid Tai Chi, Explosion….

Part of what Garnia said got his attention.

"-I've never seen such power!" So Rai got stronger….

It wasn't even half a minute later that Garnia and Ave were arguing again, this time bringing out their weapons: A war hammer and a whip.

Luka got up and left. He had better things to do than listening to those two clowns argue.

"Luka, wait," Jahara ran up to him. "Where are you going?"

"I don't have time for them. I want to see Rai's power for myself."

"Luka…."

"Stay here in case it gets out of hand. Garnia will win."

At that moment Ave's cries echoed off the walls, signifying who had won. "See? I'll be back later."

Just before he got to the ocean's surface he looked back to the trench where a large ship had been just moments before, now lost forever because a masked Tigeroid Warrior had tricked him into attacking her instead of Rai and luring him to where the force of his attacks would cause it to sink, and where it would be more difficult for him to escape.

He had almost defeated Rai, too…

When he got back to the Luftdrake, Jahara was sitting at the table, drying her hair with a towel, mumbling angrily. She looked up to see Luka and froze mid-action. Her gaze flickered between her armor air-drying on the table, the drier clothes she had changed into that were noticeably different from the ones she wore before, the towel in her hands, and back at Luka.

"You followed me."

Jahara nodded.

"And you were looking out for me."

Jahara's face turned a light red as she avoided eye contact.

"I appreciate that.

A sharp gust of wind blew in, making Jahara shiver. She didn't reach for the last fluffy towel, looking a little unsure. Luka unfolded it and hung it around her shoulders. "You need it more than I do."

Jahara gave a smile of thanks.

9

Jahara glared at the table, infuriated by how her mission went and that she had to be rescued from a remote island.

"I had to dress up as a bear." She spoke slowly in attempt to control her anger. "I couldn't move _at all _and that little pipsqueak messed with me! She used Rai's Tai Chi and Activater. _A six-year-old._"

"So you're saying that a little girl has the skill level of a novice Warrior and could attack Rai with his own Tai Chi?" He smiled.

"Yes!" Jahara looked at him with narrow eyes before fully realizing what he had said and began to laugh.

It wasn't often he got to hear her laugh. He liked it when she did.

10

Luka walked back towards the virtual simulator where he'd be able to continue training. Duran floated up to him. "The General wants to talk to you."

"I'm busy."

"But-"

Luka glared at him. Duran nodded and left. The General could just talk to any of the others.

It was only a few hours into the training session and he was already exhausted. This was strange, he could go for longer than that with short rests. He had been feeling a little off for the past few days since going to the sunken ship. Probably just a light cold or something. He didn't usually get sick and if he did, it was minor and he got over it within a few days, a week at the most.

Instead of the intense sword training he switched to increasing the speed of his Tai Chi attacks, something he'd been lacking a little lately. True it'd be easier in Dragonoid State, but that normally took strength and he didn't feel like passing out within half an hour.

He was joined by Jahara later on the outside balcony.

"They got it again."

Luka gave a slight nod, rubbing a hand lightly where a headache was coming on, slowly now because of the fresh air.

Jahara looked over at him, concerned. "Are you all right?"

"It's just a little cold. I'll be fine."

10-11

He wasn't "fine" the next morning when he woke up. The cold had gotten strong enough to make him feel miserable.

A coffee mug filled with steaming, brown liquid sat on the bedside table. A note on a small piece of paper was next to it in Jahara's handwriting.

_This is a tea that is very effective for curing colds. It might taste a little bitter. You were supposed to go on a mission today and I decided to go on it myself so you could rest._

_Get better soon._

_Jahara._

The tea was bitter at first. The aftertaste was closer to more of a tropical fruit flavor that was sweet and spicy. Even if it was bitter all the way through and had a stronger taste he'd still drink it.

Ave was talking to Jahara, smiling. Jahara looked quite bored, like it was the last thing she wanted to do. She paid a lot more attention to the contents of her coffee mug. Ave wrapped his arm around her shoulders, about to speak again when Jahara glared at him and punched him, making him back off.

"Don't ever do that again."

Ave just kept backing away and started to leave her, walking past Luka. "She punched me!

Jahara noticed him and smiled. "Are you feeling better?"

Luka nodded. "Much."

"That's good."

11

During the mid-morning hours news came that Jahara had attacked and damaged a Tigeroid airship. Not Rai's, though.

"We will be attacking again tonight. By then they will have left the Tigeroids and will send a signal for help. We can eliminate them all at once," General Vicious said.

At least this plan had a much better chance at succeeding than the plans before.

The attack was that night over an ocean. He had to focus on two things: Defeating the Tigeroids and protecting Jahara if she needed it, that alone being more important. Until ordered otherwise he, Garnia and Ave were to fly their disks around the airships out of sight to find blind spots.

Jahara and the Tigeroid known as General Aidan were fighting. He watched closely, ready to interfere if needed. This would be the first time in a very long time that any of them had fought against a General-status Tigeroid.

General Aidain used a Tai Chi that was closer to the Tigeroid version of Pierce: Arrow. Only it was much faster.

_No! _

Before the attack could hit smoke appeared around Jahara, leaving the Smoke Tai Chi symbol. He glared in Ave's direction. Yes he was happy that Jahara had been saved, but not by that idiot. Some satisfaction did come at the thought of when this was over Jahara would have a "talk" with Ave.

Just a little more and they would win.

Something was wrong. The air temperature suddenly dropped and black storm clouds formed overhead. Powerful gusts of wind blew from all directions, some creating tornado-like towers of water. He had to hold onto the disk to keep from falling off as it was blown back. He didn't have to see the Dragonoid airship leaving to know they'd been once again defeated, this time being forced to retreat.

"That storm wasn't natural," Garnia said, "It came up too fast and was too powerful."

They were back in the stone room with the table. The table had towels and medical supplies on it.

Luka nodded in agreement and looked around. "Where's Ave?"

Jahara was combing her fingers through her messy hair in attempt to straighten it. "I had a little 'talk' with him about saving me. I have my own defensive Tai Chi cards. Smoke canceled out the effect of the one I used before the battle."

"And we should expect him to come back complaining to us?" Garnia asked.

"Just threaten to punch him. He'll stop . If he doesn't, punch him anyway." She turned towards Luka. "Right?"

Luka gave a slight nod, only half-listening, staring outside. A storm had formed from the constant lightening again, as it did occasionally. The storm that had caused them to retreat had been created from Tai Chi. The only one that would have been able to do that was the Elder that was travelling with the Tigeroids would have the knowledge to do that.

He had to keep that in mind for the future.

13

"Do you have an idea of who it might be?" Jahara asked, referring to the new General that was to replace General Vicious, who had been punished by the Emperor earlier that day.

Luka shook his head. "It would be someone stronger."

Ave arrived just a few moments later, obviously having failed at getting a Tai Chi card he went off to find. Garnia commented on him looking like a mess.

The portal to their home world, Sahn, lit; their signal to how in respect to their superiors. The masked face of the man who was always with –and occasionally spoke for- the Emperor appeared, announcing the arrival of their new General. A figure appeared high above them, descending down to the floor. They looked up, shock crossing their faces.

No… it couldn't be _him._

He sensed Jahara move a little closer to him.

14

"Luka, my old friend," General Mishckha said, despite what happened in the past. Luka looked away from him.

"I'm not taking orders from some kid," Ave said.

"Are you saying I'm too young to command you?"

_Ave, don't- _"That's exactly what I'm saying." _Idiot_

Mishckha got a Tai Chi out, activating it. Ave clamped his hands over his ears, screaming in pain. That was the Tai Chi that made sound ten times louder than normal….

Mishckha noticed Duran. "And who is that?"

"I'm the General's Assistant."

"Your former General was weak. I have no need for you."

Duran was about to argue back when Jahara shook her head, warning him not to. He left after that.

Luka leaned against one of the pillars in the large room. Mishckha... of all the Generals why did it have to be him? The Emperor couldn't have sent him because of- that thought was interrupted when Jahara and Garnia approached.

"We can't find Duran. Anywhere."

That was strange.

"Do you have any ideas where he could have gone?" Jahara asked.

Luka shook his head.

"We need him to find the lost Tai Chi Characters." Garnia said.

Jahara walked towards the window. "That's why I'm going to find him. You two stay here in case he comes back. And if Ave says something stupid again. I'll be fine on my own."

Luka walked up to her and set a hand on her shoulder. "Please be careful."

"I will."

Jahara came back a short time later with Duran, that action annoying Mishckha.

"I see you brought that useless creature back with you and lost the Tai Chi. Now for your punishment…."

_What?_

Jahara was thrown back from the Hit character. Luka didn't make any move to help her, knowing that would only put her in greater danger for future punishments, as he was friends with her and Mishckha would be quite pleased to hurt anyone that was. Jahara wasn't badly hurt, either, but if she had been…. Luka forced that thought out of his mind, watching her leave before following.

He didn't care if she got the Tai Chi or not. She came back safe and that's what mattered. She'd most likely be on the balcony, where she typically went after missions to relax. She never minded when he joined her and always liked to talk about what happened.

16

"Luka, wait." Jahara ran up to him, her face a very light red. "I'm… just wondering why there's… so much… tension between you and the General…. Could you maybe tell me why?"

_Why all the pauses? Was she just trying to have a random conversation? _"It isn't something you need to know. Not now." He walked away from her. When he was far enough out of her sight he punched a stone wall, leaving a fist-shaped hole. _Why did she have to ask that now? If it had been a different question or maybe if the circumstance was different, he would have talked to her… What was he so upset about, anyway?_

18

Now what did Mishckha want? This had to happen during one of the now rare sparring sessions? It had been over a week since the last one. Someone was approaching. It felt like… the doors at the end of the hallway opened.

Ave? Something was off. He was smiling way too much and his eyes were glowing red. The symbol on his forehead was- Garnia identified it as the Hideous Tai Chi.

"It was only to make him stronger and more useful." Mishckha said.

"You turned him into a monster!" Jahara said. "The Hideous Tai Chi is forbidden and to use it on another Dragonoid-"

"This way we will get the Tai Chi characters from the Tigeroids and I have a plan to get all of their Tai Chi cards. But only if you follow it."

"She can stay here while I do it." Luka said. Jahara couldn't get punished again, not for simply failing a mission.

Mishckha shook his head. "The plan won't work, then. Jahara, you will set this card out to bait the Tigeroids into going after it." He played with a card in his hand, its symbol facing him. "Being the Forget card, you will have to pretend you have amnesia to let their guards down. I'm sure one or two of them will unfortunately be lucky enough to escape its effects. While you are on their airship you will find and steal their Tai Chi. And it can only be her because we all know how much Rai hates you, Luka. You're more of the enemy to them."

"And if the plan fails or they find out and capture her?" _He couldn't let this happen…._

"It won't. After all, the Tigeroids didn't try to attack her when she and Garnia went after the Dream card." At hearing that Jahara's eyes widened and her face started to turn red. "I don't know what happened after it converged, but I assume they got caught in their dreams for a short time and one of the Tigeroids, probably Rai, was about to get the card."

Jahara nodded vigorously before giving Duran a death-glare when he was about to speak. She got up and left.

Luka stared at nothing in particular, shifting uncomfortably and moving to another spot on the balcony before repeating the process several minutes later. Jahara had been gone for only a few hours –with no way of communication- and it already felt like it had been too long.

"Worried about her?" Garnia walked up to him. Luka didn't reply. "She'll be fine. The Tigeroids won't hurt her."

"If she fails this mission don't stop me from taking her punishment."

"If you do that than General Mishckha will still punish her."

"Out of all of us I'm the one he wants to fail the most."

"He doesn't like you."

"No." He started to leave. Maybe training would distract him. Or if that didn't work, passing out from exhaustion would.

Why couldn't he have given her one of his cards? He still hadn't heard anything from her. That could mean… No, he had to trust her. She had good judgment and would know if she had to come back. If he tried to go to her, the plan would be ruined. Earlier that morning he had asked Duran to let him know if something happened. It wasn't until a short time later that Jahara came back with Ave, leaving him in the room used for holographic training.

"Mishckha is going to punish me…"

Luka walked next to her. "Jahara, I-"

She shook her head, seeming to sense his thoughts. "I failed it. Not you. Mishckha would only make it much worse for you. We don't know what other Tai Chi he will use." She became quiet, looking nervous and maybe ashamed.

"Is something wrong?"

"I became friends with Donha, the Tigeroid that uses the Wall Tai Chi. He doesn't seem to care we're enemies and he wanted to find out how to reverse Forget's effects."

Something about the fact that a Tigeroid was that nice to her upset him.

Mishckha looked quite annoyed when he saw Jahara. "The plan was perfect, yet you failed."

"Give her a second chance," Luka said.

Jahara turned to look at him, shaking her head. "I deserve it. I should have followed the plan. Please don't forget about me."

_No…_ "I… I won't, Jahara." _If Mishckha saw the fear on her face right now…._

Mishckha got a card out, activating it. Jahara was thrown back from the blow and wasn't getting back up…

19

"Jahara…." He glared up at Mishchka, putting a hand on his sword.

Garnia spoke up. "She's all right. She just fainted."

He relaxed a little.

Jahara's unconscious form was levitated and sent through a large blue sphere that was also a portal to their home world.

"Her punishment is a warning that failure is no longer tolerated," Mishckha said, and then changed the subject as if nothing had happened. "A new Tai Chi signal has been detected and I was hoping a volunteer would go find it."

Luka narrowed his eyes. "You mean me."

"It should be easy for the strongest warrior here. And take _that _annoying thing with you." He pointed at Duran.

Luka grabbed Duran as he walked past him.

"I'm not that annoying am I, Luka?"

_Yes you are._

"Not so tight! Not so tight!"

A large group of robots fought the Tigeroids. Luka stayed out of sight until either he had to fight, too, or they were defeated. One of the Tigeroids, the one with long black hair –Finn?- used Ice, a Tai Chi he seemed to favor. The ice froze the robots. Luka activated the Steam card, defrosting them and advancing as the stream began to clear.

The Tigeroids seemed surprised to see him and Rai activated Fire, the Tai Chi he used the most. Luka waited until the last minute to jump onto a disk floating high above, letting Rai think the attack hit.

Duran was clinging to his arm, practically hyperventilating. "We could have been fried!" He freaked out again when Rai was thrown into the air by one of the other Tigeroids, which happened to be Donha, activating Fire again.

Being at close range this attack was harder to dodge. He leaped into the air, his plan to confuse the Tigeroids worked and as he fell back down he activated Pierce. The Tigeroids only defensive Tai Chi was Wall, and there wouldn't be enough time for it to activate and become solid.

The Tigeroid that looked the youngest, and from what he heard from the others, the annoying, hyperactive, talkative one activated Slippery. Rai and Donha slipped on the ice that appeared over the ground beneath their feet, managing to escape Pierce.

He was about to activate it again while the first was still going when he suddenly remembered Jahara telling him about the friendship she formed with Donha. He couldn't attack him… not if it meant upsetting her….

Donha activated Wall to repel the remainder of the attack. That was easy enough to take out. Luka activated one of his stronger and more dangerous cards: Destruction. A tornado-like wind hit Wall, destroying it.

One of the robots attacked Sena, the girl Jahara said that Tai Chi skills as strong as her own. This action apparently angered Rai, getting him to activate Sword. He attacked the robots before turning on Luka. _Fool. _Luka activated Water, the attack throwing Rai back against a tree. _He really expected that to work?_

Duran jabbed him, pointing behind them. "Look! The card is-!" The Tai Chi card was glowing brightly.

'_If it's acting that way… than it must be…' This couldn't happen. Not now. _He didn't have time to think about it more, as Rai activated Fire twice to get Flame. Luka activated Water to cancel-out the attack. Both attacks merged into a sphere before morphing into a tower made of water and fire. _What was- _the tower burst, throwing him back. He blacked out for a moment, being woken by Duran's annoying voice, demanding him to get up.

"_Duran."_ He got up, glaring at the small, black dragon.

Rai was conscious, too, having been lucky enough not to get knocked out.

Luka's Tai Chi cards began to leave the container that hold them, floating around them on their own accord; the same thing happening to Rai. The cards began spinning faster, glowing.

"This is bad!" Duran shouted.

The next few seconds everything was spinning- or was it him? When the spinning stopped he leaned against the nearest thing until the dizziness passed. Objects of all kinds, sizes, and colors were everywhere, floating in place. This was a different dimension….

He remembered the conversation he had had with Garnia earlier.

_Just after he had been assigned the mission Garna ran up to him._

"_Wait. Let me come along."_

"_Those aren't the orders."_

"_You're still listening to him even after what he did to Jahara?"_

_He still didn't turn and clenched his hand into a fist. "We still have to follow orders even when we don't like them." Garnia had told him that once several years earlier._

"_I have a bad feeling about this." Luka turned his head towards him. "And I have a feeling you do, too." He had been right about that…._

'_Tai Chi Convergences are caused by a Warrior's inner conflicts; was it reacting to mine?' _He glared at Duran, who had fallen asleep. "_Wake up._"

Duran instantly woke up, gesturing wildly. "I wasn't sleeping!"

Luka grabbed him again, holding him in front of him. "We have to find a way out of here."

Duran's whiskers stood up straight and he looked up at the sky. A large sphere was floating up there with a symbol on it that was a little difficult to see from the distance. He had to get closer… mabe he could find a way to stop the convergence….

There were object around that he could use to get closer.

He jumped from object to object until he got to a large, black and white checker board-like platform. There were pathways above it and other floating objects. Behind him was another platform high above with stairs that lead to nowhere. He continued walking when a door opened vertically on the platform and Rai ran into the air, not making it very far before he fell downward and braced himself over the opening, struggling to keep himself up. He glared at Luka. "I will defeat you!"

Duran floated over to him. "Don't bet on that." He brushed his tail against Rai's skin, making him laugh and fall back down the hole. Duran floated back to Luka, following him away from where Rai had been. "We don't have to worry about him anymore."

Behind them the door closed back over the hole and vanished. _This place couldn't possibly- _on the high walkway Rai was rolling down the stairs _–get any weirder._

Rai held onto his head, whining how much it hurt.

"Don't be a wimp."

Rai glared at him. "I'll show you who's the wimp!" He jumped down onto the platform. "Let's fight to prove it."

"Look around you. This place was created by a Tai Chi Convergence."

"I don't care!" Rai threw a punch at him.

Luka simply grabbed onto Rai's arm, using his weight against him, throwing him to the ground. He ignored Duran as the small dragon pulled out a white flag, announcing that he was the "winner".

Rai got back up, his body language indicating he still wanted to fight. "You'll pay for that!"

At that point the Tai Chi in the sky flashed, the Sword symbol appearing. Multiple Swords began to rain down.

Duran began to freak out. "How'd you do that?! You don't have any cards, either!"

"Sneak attacks aren't fair!"

The Fire symbol flash, causing flames to start up on the platform. Luka grabbed onto a nearby object suspended in the air, escaping the rogue attack. Rai wasn't so lucky and ran around trying to get away.

_How pathetic can you be?_ After the flames died down large, pale spheres from the Ball character rolled across the platform, one of them flattening Rai.

Luka let go of the object that he held onto and looked up at the Tai Chi in the sky again. _'Mishckha planned this….'_

Rai stood up, looking frustrated. "I don't care how many Tai Chi you attack me with!"

"We have to team up if we want to get out of here. You're still an enemy but unless we combine our powers we won't get out. We can battle later." He sensed Duran staring at him questioningly.

"Everything I care about is destroyed. I can't trust you!"

"You were attacked by the Tai Chi because it responded to your rage."

"Yeah right. Like I'm going to believe you!" Fire activated again, the attack going just behind him and set his cloths on fire, causing him to run in circles in attempt to put the flames out. "Hit me with a water attack!" The flames eventually went out.

"Do you believe me now?"

"I guess so… We can't get out of here without our Tai Chi."

_Now he gets it? _"Our Tai Chi cards are still here, including the Destruction character."

"What?!" Duran shrieked. "If that activates while we're in here we'll be blown to bits!"

"I'm not going to take any chances. We need to focus on stopping the convergence."

"And then you can start clobbering each other again."

Luka jumped onto a higher walkway. Rai hesitated, muttering to himself before beginning to follow and narrowly avoided a green blast that cut a deep trench into the platform. Rai looked around, confused. "Where did that come from?!"

A nearby object broke to pieces by a glowing green whip.

_Could this day get _any _worse?_

Ave flew around on his disk, laughing maniacally and destroying various objects with his whip.

Rai shouted at him. "Stop that!"

Ball activated again, raining spheres down. Luka leaped onto the disk and shoved Ave off. As he fell Ave activated Move.

_That's strange…. _The platform Rai stood on continued to crumble, faster than he could run. It overtook him and he fell. Luka caught him. _I'm going to regret this…._

"You can put me down now."

_Gladly. _He dropped him.

"You could have put me down gently!"

Duran floated in front of him. "You should be grateful we saved you."

Rai glared at him and shoved a hand against Duran's nose before he looked up. "Why are you battling Ave and how come he can use Tai Chi?"

Duran answered. "The General used a Hideous Tai Chi on Ave that warped his personality and turned him into a mindless attack machine."

To prevent him from speaking further Luka spoke up. "If I hadn't taken control of this disk Ave would have destroyed everything here; including us." He looked up at the Tai Chi in the sky again, barely hearing Rai's mumbles.

Rai stood up. "Even though we're enemies we have to stop the convergence. This is a temporary alliance."

Luka nodded in agreement and began to control the movements of the disk.

Duran spoke to Rai, sounding pleased. "It's nice to have a runt on the team."

Rai glared at him again. "My truce is with Luka. Not you." He pulled on Duran's whiskers.

Luka ignored them. "I'm getting as close as we can."

"Let's stop it and get out of this place." He gave a look to Duran that dared the dragon to speak again.

_Just a little closer… _A whip destroyed a nearby object._ …****…._

"How did he get here without a disk?!"

Luka was about to respond when Ave teleported behind him, hooking his arms under Luka's upperarms, forcing the disk to crash-land, hitting various objects on the way. _He knew he was going to regret it someday when he taught Ave that…._

Ave attacked with his whip again, at the same time Water activated. The blast knocked Rai out of the way of the weapon. Water gushed out of every object around them. Ave made no attempt to dodge. A black aura surrounded him.

Pierce activated, some of the arrowheads surrounding Ave. A few sent straight at Rai, who hadn't fully recovered from the water blast. Luka got there first and knocked them back with his sword. "So far you're not much of a partner." _And yet Rai was pretty much his only chance to get out of there._

Ave was beginning to get stronger and sort of resemble a gorilla **(couldn't really think of anything better to describe what he looked like).**

"It's only going to get worse unless we do something." He allowed himself to go into Dragonoid State, this being one of the rare times he needed an increase of power; Rai did the same by going into Tigeroid State. He looked back at Rai. "Follow me." He jumped from object to object to get closer to the Tai Chi in the sky again; going slower so Rai could keep up. _If he died here because of Rai…._

Duran identified the Tai Chi. "That's the Chaos character!"

Ave teleported in front of them, having two whips this time. He attacked with both, forcing Luka and Rai to go in different directions.

Destruction began to activate. Everything began rumbling. _…****…._

He was prevented from getting closer by Ave, defending against the whips with his sword. _'Ave… I'll never forgive Mishckha for turning to into a monster. …Sorry Ave, but I have no choice!' _He deflected the whips back, knocking Ave off balance.

Rai ran up to him. "You don't have to do this. Just keep Ave busy while I stop toe convervence." He ran off, Duran following him.

"Wait!" Rai ignored him and started to get closer to the Chaos Tai Chi. _'Reckless kid.' He was going to die here, wasn't he?_

Ave got back up.

"Wake up, Ave!" He defended against the whips again. _'Hurry up, Rai….'_

The rumbling began to end and the sphere disappeared. Rai fell.

"Rai!" He leaped off the platform and saved Rai. Again.

This action seemed to confuse Rai. "You saved me…."

"We all do things we learn to regret."

The Chaos Tai Chi appeared again and teleported them out of the dimension.

When he got back to the Luftdrake Garnia greeted him. "I didn't think I'd see you again."

They continued walking down the hallway, Luka letting Garnia do most of the talking.

_Rai had stopped the convergence on his own. He couldn't have down that unless….._

21

Jahara not being there just… didn't feel right.

Being there gave little comfort, as it was one of the places Jahara visited the most.

Annoying, high-pitch squealing came from behind and a short, young girl with pink hair in two bushy pony tails ran up to him. "Oh my golly, it is you!" She squealed again and ran up to him. "This is totally the most exciting moment in my whole life! My name is Terra and I'm a massive fan of yours. Do you mind if I hold your hand?" she took it without a response and pulled him to face her. THIS _was Jahara's replacement?_ _Why… _"Wow, I've dreamt of this moment since I was a little girl. There's _so _much I want to know!" Her annoying, happy-go-lucky expression and voice instantly turned darker, her voice becoming a whisper. "Like your favorite way to destroy Tigeroids."

He cringed at that. _She was _**NOT **_about to find that out…._

Terra went back to how she was seconds before, letting go of his hand and giggled as she hopped in place around in a circle. "I actually touched you!"

Another Dragoinoid that was standing in the hallway, one with very messy blond hair, called her. "Yo, Terra! Come on!"

"Okay!" She turned and smiled. "Catch you later, _Luka!" _she ran off giggling.

….Ave and Duran _combined_ weren't half that annoying. Even though Terra was out of sight now the hairs on the back of his neck still stood.

…_.Maybe getting stuck in that dimension for a few more days wouldn't have been so bad._

He had failed at protecting her. Why didn't she just listen to him? Why couldn't he have taken it? Mishckha had to die…

"Luka!" Garnia's voice was a lot louder than normal. And everything had a lot more detail, just like when-

He glanced at the armor on the back of his hand, seeing his reflection. His face had small scales and his pupils had become slits. When did he-?

"You're stressed." Garnia said, reminding him when a Dragonoid or Tigeroid got too stressed out they'd unintentionally transform, even if they would fight it, only exhausting themselves and becoming more prone to give into it easily. After that, they'd lose control as their instincts took over for a while, at times depending on what was stressing them, it could drive them to the point of obsession, such as wanting to wipe out an enemy. When it was over they usually couldn't remember what happened.

He knew that, apparently, Garnia had gone through it several times, though he'd never been told why.

If it ever happened to him, he probably would be at –or even past- the point of obsession. Especially because part of it was that the instincts were stronger the more the individual resembled a dragon or a tiger and with how much he looked like a dragon when he went into Dragonoid State….

22

Luka stared at nothing in particular outside the window. He walked back to the table and sat down, resting his head in his hands. Just that morning he'd nearly gone unwillingly into Dragonoid State again, the third time in the past two days. Why was this happening…? He looked up was Garnia approached, Duran following him.

"It almost happened again, didn't it?" Garnia asked.

Luka nodded. Duran stared at him, puzzled. "What happened?"

"Nothing you need to know about." If Duran knew that he couldn't fully control going in and out of Dragonoid State….

Duran looked at Garnia for an answer and didn't get one. He looked back at Luka. "That's the most you've said in the last few days."

Several moments of silence passed until Garnia spoke again. "Nobody knows where Ave is and Jahara is being punished for treason," Luka flinched at that, "Well at least we have more room at the table now!" He forced a laugh and gave up when Luka didn't react.

Duran floated up to Luka. "If you keep acting like this you're going to end up like Ave and Jahara."

Luka got up and left. If they were going to keep talking about Jahara like this….

A short time later Garnia found him on the balcony. "The General wants to-"

Luka nodded and followed him. _Now what did Mishckha want? _The Dragon Assault Squad was there, too. Terra smiled and waved enthusiastically at him.

Because everyone was there Mishckha spoke. "It seems that an Elder is traveling with the Tigeroids; probably to a conference. We can't let them get there."

One of the Dragon Assault Squad's members, the one that seemed to be the leader, Jakata, smirked. "If the guy's a Tigeroid Elder he must be one powerful dude. We can wipe him out for sure!"

Mishckha ignored him. "Luka, I'm sending you and Garnia."

The Dragon Assault Squad stared at him in shock.

"Why aren't you sending us?" Jakata whined.

"Because Luka is clearly stronger."

"Well I don't agree. Let's see which is stronger. You and me are gonna battle right now, Luka!"

Terra smiled widely. "I can't wait to see the Dragonoid's Dreamiest Warrior battle!"_ **(Gag.)**_

He didn't have time for this. Jakata would lose quickly, as the only attack he ever used was Heat (Terra wasn't exactly very secretive about her and her teammates Tai Chi and strategies) and his cockiness would lead to an even faster loss. Luka turned to leave.

"Hey!  
"You're not going to battle? Why _not _Luka?!" Terra demanded.

Luka ignored them. The sooner the mission was over the sooner he could-

"That's it, Luka's too upset to battle because of what happened to that traitor Jahara."

Luka stopped and quickly turned, glaring at him. For just a moment he had to resist going into Dragonoid State again. He continued to leave. He had to get out of there before that happened.

False surprise came over Jakata's face. "Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry. She was your friend. I heard Jahara was weak and disobeyed orders and got what she deserved though, right?" He _laughed _at that. _If he said one more thing_- "I bet the Emperor came up with a really _nasty _punishment for her!"

_That's it. _Luka glowered death at him. _**"TAKE BACK WHAT YOU JUST SAID." **_He didn't hide the hateful, murderous tone. _If this idiot _really_ wanted to die that badly…. _If he lost control it wouldn't matter. He'd wipe out everyone here, the only one that would get out of it would be Garnia, who would know how to stop him.

"I'll take it back, _if _you can beat me." He began walked forward. "This is it, Luka. Time to show your cards!"

_Gladly._

Garnia ran in front of Jakata, blocking him. "Hold it! Jakata, look, we have to go on this mission."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's only two of us left. We have to prove we can pull this off; "

"It wouldn't have mattered. He wanted a fight."

"And let Mishckha know? Before you would have gotten a chance to attack him he would have used the Hideous Tai Chi and possibly another to control you."

He was right… Duran joined them and just happened to hear the last part of the conversation. "You're losing it? Is it about-" he went silent at a warning glance from Garnia.

"Luka, it gets much harder to control if you let it happen."

"I'll be fine." He didn't speak again for a while. Garnia left him alone while they were on one of the airships.

_Losing control on this mission wouldn't help at all. He was going to have to concentrate on that more than anything else. _Eventually he joined Garnia and Duran.

"You'll have to be careful. Tigeroids are stronger in the cold." Duran said.

The ground below was tundra. Like how Dragonoids were stronger in the water, Tigeroids were better in colder weather. Some Dragonoid warriors, if deemed worthy enough, were trained to battle in the cold. Garnia had trained with him when he had to.

And he had done some secret training with Jahara.

"So… How long do you think Jakata would last?"

That was an interesting though…. "Ten minutes at the most." He knew Garnia was trying to get him to concentrate on something else other than Jahara. "Terra?"

"She wouldn't even take one step out there. Unless you asked her to, of course."

The Dragon Assault Squad wasn't trained for the cold, as that type of combat was also for Dragonoid warriors with a different rank. They were mostly sent for other types of missions, such as wiping out a group of enemies. And get one of the strongest teams of Dragonoids was currently made up of a bunch of idiots….

He forced himself to stop thinking of Jakata insulting Jahara. When this mission was over, he would give Jakata a fight. He had to, for Jahara…. _What was happening to her right now?_

"Luka." Garnia said. "Keep your mind off her and on the mission."

"You don't have to worry about that."

Duran frantically waved his arms. "The Tigeroids changed course!"

Luka looked outside, seeing two Tigeroid Airships; a black one that was difficult to see against the snow-capped mountain range and the yellow one they'd been seeing for over a year. Garnia ordered Duran to have their airship fly faster and to attack the airships.

The airships vanished at the attack. A Hallucination Tai Chi….

"There's still one down there," Duran said, "They must be trying to get us to follow the other airship."

_No, Duran had the positions reversed. It would be better to attack the one on the ground anyway because then they could go after the other without worrying about them calling for backup. True that would give the Tigeroid Elder a chance to get away. And they would find out where the other airship was going._

It was easy to find the Tigeroids, from all the noise they were making during their snowball fight. Rai,….Donha,… and Tori? Rai threw a snowball and it missed its intended target, impacting Garnia's face.

Rai laughed. "Sorry, but you fell for the fake-out." _Cocky as ever._

Garnia glared at him. "I'll give you kids one chance to tell us where the other ship went."

"Yeah, right. Like we'll do that. You'd have to kill us first."

Garnia took that as a challenge.

Donha got between them. "Wait. Ever since I met Jahara I've been thinking- and I think the Tigeroids and Dragonoids need to live in peace."

"What?"

"That's why I don't want to battle you anymore." He said quietly.

"Is this another trick? It won't work. You have to battle us, kid, we're mortal enemies."

Rai looked at Donha. "You heard him. Dragonoids will never understand."

"You're right; we won't!" Garnia went into Dragonoid State and activated Explosion.

Rai activated Fire, using it to counter Explosion. When the two attacks contacted they exploded. Garnia struck the ground with his war-hammer, creating a powerful shockwave.

The Tigeroids dodged and began to go into Tigeroid State. Luka used his sword to create an energy wave thrown at the Tigeroids. Rai reacted by doing the same with his Sword Tai Chi. Both attacks hit, exploding again. Rai had jumped high into the air in an attempt surprise-attack.

Luka blocked it with another energy wave. Rai landed as Luka put his sword away and activated Pierce, holding back like he did before.

Rai blocked them with an energy wave from his sword and attacked again, Luka blocking the attack the same way. "You're weaker than usual, Luka."

"What are you battling me for, Rai?" _The kid had to have a reason to go this far without even knowing how Dragonoids and Tigeroids were supposed to be enemies…._

"To get revenge for taking my mom away from me!" _He really didn't figure it out yet?_

"Any other reason?"

"Well….I…" he glanced away. "I'm batting for the Tigeroids, too!" _Those weren't true reasons. He didn't get it._

"You're a fool."

"You're battling for the Dragonoids, aren't you?"

"I won't explain my actions to you." He rose his sword.

"_Break!"_

_What?! _A shockwave hit him and Rai, throwing them. Luka stood up. _Jahara…?_

Garnia confirmed that thought.

_Something was wrong, though_…. Garnia walked forward. "Welcome back."

Jahara glared at him. "I will destroy you all!" _Her behavior was just like Ave's when- no…. but she didn't have the symbol on her forehead….._

"Garnia, be careful!"

Jahara used her sword to create an energy wave again powered by the Break Tai Chi. Garnia dodged the attack.

"What's the matter with you?"

_She wouldn't attack an ally unless…._ Jahara activated Thread. Luka jumped out of the way. Garnia wasn't so lucky. Jahara pulled the threads.

Garnia struggled. "She's stronger!"

_She was changed…. By Mishckha. _Rai used his sword to cut Thread. Jahara activated and used Break on the ground, creating a shockwave. Rai took the attack for the other two Tigeroids.

Luka jumped out of the way. Gernia was hit and knocked back. Luka caught him.

"We have to save her."

Jahara used to her sword to create an energy wave, attacking the Tigeroids and at Luka again.

Luka jumped out of the way and set Garnia down.

"You have to fight this, Jahara! You can't let the Hideous Tai Chi take you over!" He jumped out of the way of another Break. "Jahara, Mishckha is turning you into a monster. If you don't resist then the real you is going to be lost forever!"

_Couldn't she hear him? _Jahara attacked him with another energy wave. This time, he took the attack. Attacking him might shock some sense into her….

Jahara attacked Donha and Tori this time. Rai came in and saved them with- _the Wing Tai Chi?! He was right…. Rai _was _part Dragonoid…. _

Rai activated Hot, beginning to melt the snow. _What was that going to- _Snow began to slide down the mountain. An avalanche…. Jahara didn't seem to notice, as she was kneeling on the ground.

Garnia shouted at her. "Get out of the way!" He tried to get up, his attempted failed because of previous injuries. Luka ran up to him, helping him get up. "Help her." Luka got him into his back and ran towards Jahara.

At the last second he let go of Garnia and threw himself over Jahara. He was pushed back by the forece of the snow and after several moments dug himself out. Garnia doing the same, leaning back.

"Are you all right?" Luka asked.

"Yes but… Jahara…"

She was lying where she had been moments before.

"She'll be fine when she wakes up." Hopefully the affects of the Hideous Tai Chi were broken…

They looked at the Tigeroid Airship that was beginning t take off. Rai was standing in front of it.

"You survived."

"And now you're back to finish what you started."

"No. I wanted to make sure Jahara was okay. You saved me once, I owe you one." He left.

A little while later Luka took Jahara to a room inside the Luftdrake for medical purposes, watching over her. Duran was with him, staying silent.

It was because of Mishckha that Jahara was like this…. He remembered the last thing she said to him before this happened, asking him not to forget her.

"Jahara…."

23

He watched her attack the walls mindlessly. This was so different from her training. So… painful to watch her act this way. All he could do was watch her. He felt so useless….

Jahara held onto her head, screaming.

"It's destroying her…."

"Not necessarily." _Not him._

Luka looked in his direction, but didn't turn. "What do you want, Mishckha?"

"I know a way to save Jahara and I need your help to do it."

Luka followed him into a room lit with a single light. There were two chairs facing each other with a table in between. A Tai Chi attack in the form of a large block surrounded them.

"This will keep your conversation private. You may be surprised Luka, when I'm just as shocked as you are with what the Emperor did to poor Jahara." He knew Mishckha well enough to know he was lying and trying to get him to believe the past events were the Emperor's doing.

"Get to your point, Mishckha."

"You should really lighten up a bit, Luka. I've learned something new about Rai; he has a secret." His voice dropped to a whisper for a moment, unaware that Luka already knew about the 'secret'. "He's _different. _He was able to use the Dragonoid Tai Chi, Wing. A Tigeroid is only able to use _Tigeroid _Tai Chi. For some reason he was able to activate our Dragonoid cards, too. I'm sure you agree that's fascinating. You must have noticed something was different about him from the start, yet you never reported it."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm too busy to waste time thinking about some kid."

"Really. I wonder if the Emperor would believe that if I told him about Rai."

Luka narrowed his eyes, lowering his voice. "Are you threatening me?"

"Luka," he sat down. "I would _never_ betray and old friend." _Too late for that. _"I know you have problems with the Emperor and believe me so do I. _That's _why we should work together. It's clear to me what Diga is up to. You know who ever collects the Tai Chi One Thousand has the power to become-"

"-The Tai Chi King."

"That's right; the legend. It's obvious Diga is trying to obtain the Tai Chi One Thousand. But he's a criminal; it would be a disaster if he got that kind of power. I think we can both agree on that, don't you?"  
"No I don't. I've heard enough of this." He got up.

"Help me get the Tai Chi One Thousand so I can stop Ddiga from using all the power I can use to cure Jahara."

"I would never betray the Emperor. Mention your twisted ambition again and I'll report to him myself." He left.

He joined Garnia a short time later. They had to get ready to attack the many Tigeroids that were coming to attack the Luftdrake. Luka stopped himself from glaring at Mishckha when he saw him.

"We're ready to attack them!" Garnia said.

"There's no need to panic, Garnia. Our lightening defense system makes us invincible." _It didn't actually. _Before… before Jahara had told him that all it would take was for a Tigeroid to use a Lightening or another electricity Tai Chi on themselves and they would be able to get past and destroy the generators creating the electrical storm.

"But… don't you think-"

"Thinking is my job. You're not questioning my judgement, are you?"

"Of course not, sir!"

The Emperor's voice came over the speaker system. "Mishckha!"

Mishckha left momentarily, a loud bang coming from where he had gone. They ran in that direction and Garnia asked what happened.

"We have an intruder. Track him down and bring him to me."

"Yes sir." Garnia looked at Luka. "We'll find him faster if we split up."

Luka nodded and ran in the other direction. How could someone have gotten inside the Luftdrake undetected? Maybe he got in the way Jahara had said.

Just then Jahara's cries echoed through the halls. She sounded like she was in a lot of pain and distress.

_He wasn't there to watch her, and with how Mishckha had no use for Jahara now-!_ An intense wave of dizziness made him crash into one of the walls, leaning against it for support, the only thing that was letting him stand. Pain coursed through him and his vision blurred everything together. _What was happening?_

Everything went by in confusing blurs. He had to find her. Protect her. He had to- Something not far away moved. A threat…. It spoke, its words very distant, slow, and didn't make any sense. That didn't matter. Being a threat, it had to die. He didn't get a chance to attack it, though. A blast from an attack hit him, throwing him back against a wall.

His vision began to clear and focus. And his head hurt. What just happened?

"The stress got to you." Garnia said, answering the unspoken question. "Luckily that blast worked. Focus that energy on defeating the real enemy."

"I nearly attacked you, didn't I?"

"You only wanted to protect Jahara. It's understandable."

He knew that meant the very basic animalistic instincts took over for a while he was in Dragonoid State were: Jahara threatened. Protect Jahara. Destroy threat. Protect Jahara. He was right; just a few days ago he had had thought the instincts would drive him to obsession.

He stood up, using the wall for support until the dizziness passed. He was still in Dragonoid State, but was able to think clearly now. "Did you find the intruder?"

"Not yet. I came to check on you. You weren't very quiet and I wouldn't be surprised if Mishckha heard you and knows what happened by now. We better find that intruder."

Luka nodded. "I'm fine now." He continued on and just few minutes later he saw the intruder. The Masked Tigeroid Warrior…. What was she doing here? "You again…"

She backed off a few steps, unable to run away as Garnia was behind her.

"You're coming with us." He put his hand on his sword. He'd be able to question her now. Could she be… Rai's mother?

Garnia took another step forward. "The General would like to see you."

The warrior threw a smoke bomb on the ground. The smoke slowly cleared.

Garnia frowned. "Where'd he go?"

Luka wasn't going to correct him. Part of the wall looked like it had been moved a bit. _What was that? _He moved the loose part, finding a hidden tunnel. He looked around before stepping inside.

"This is crazy," Garnia said. "I didn't know this was back here."

"He knows this place better than we do. He's no ordinary enemy." It'd be better for it to be believed the masked warrior was a he, just for now.

After searching for over an hour they decided to give up, having been walking in circles.

24

Luka watched Jahara bang into a wall and collapse.

_'Jahara… I'll find a way to help you, somehow….'_

"Luka, the Tigeroids are invading our base."

_Him again? _"I already know."

"They're trying to take the Tai Chi Characters we found her. I assigned Garnia to guard them. Go help him."

He glared at him. "All right, but be warned:" he turned towards him. "This is the last time I take your orders. When this battle is through, I'm going to battle you." He walked away and headed towards the stone chamber where the Tai Chi was kept. _Wait…._ He stopped. _Something didn't feel right about this…. _"Oh no." He ran to the control room. The Destruction symbol was on the computer screen. _So that's what Mishckha was up to…. _He rapidly typed on the keyboard. "What's wrong? I can't shut down the system!" He slammed his hands down, frustrated.

A hologram of Mishckha appeared next to the keyboard. Luka glared at it as it laughed. "I made sure to disable the control system before I left, Luka." Luka gritted his teeth. He wasn't about to lose control and go into Dragonoid State twice in one day. "This is just a recording, of course. You can't escape so you may as well know the truth: I wish I could take credit for this but it was all Emperor Diga's idea. He's my new hero. Good-bye, Luka." The hologram vanished.

Luka looked back at the screen. "_MISHCKHA!" _He had to warn Garnia.

The storage chamber wasn't that far away and when he got there Garnia was about to activate a Tai Chi to use against the Tigeroids. "Garnia, don't!"

"Why are you stopping me?!"

"The Luftdrake is about to be blown to bits. We have to get out of here!"

"What?"

Duran looked confused. "How could that be?"

"It's the Emperor's plan to get rid of the Tigeroids. Mishckha left us here to trick them into staying."

"That's what we've been trying to tell you!" Tori shouted.

Garnia shook his head a little. "We spent all these years battling for the Dragonoids and they betray us."

"You better leave before it's too late!" Rai said.

The girl that was with them, Sena, began leaving. "We're going to rescue the others."

"No you're not!" Garnia said. "You guys are forgetting we're having a battle to the finish!"

"Garnia!" _He was going to get himself killed one of these days acting like that…._

"Take Jahara and get out of here, Luka. I've got a job to finish."

"There's no point in fighting now!"

"We're Dragonoid Warriors no matter what, Luka. Just because the Emperor and Mishckha betrayed me doesn't mean I have the right to betray them! I follow orders no matter what!"

"We don't have time for this, Garnia!"

"Break!" The floor began to crumble.

Luka jumped out of the way, though some of the stray debris managed to hit his upper right arm. Jahara leaped high into the air, using her sword to throw a wave of energy at Rai and Sena, and then to block Finn's attempt to use Ice on her. Jahara used Thread next, managing to tie up the Tigeroids.

Luka pressed a hand against the injury. "Jahara… please…."

"I'll get rid of you, too, Luka!"

He stood up as Jahara walked towards him. "Jahara, please come back to your senses. I'm not an enemy."

"No use." Garnia said. "The Hideous Character is controlling her mind."

He ignored him. "Jahara, it's me!" Jahara threw a punch at him. He wouldn't stop it. _Maybe if she-_

Garnia caught her fist and began pushing her away. "You can't out-muscle me!" Jahara fought back, forcing him down.

"Jahara!" Donha shouted and ran forward. "Stop!" He didn't listen to the other Tigeroids telling him to back away. "You can resist the Tai Chi; it can't control you. Deep down you're a really nice and caring person. Remember when you took care of my flowers?"

Jahara froze and began screaming in pain. A black aura cloaked her.

"What's happening?" Luka looked at Garnia.

Duran answered. "She's trying to fight it but it's fighting back. If it isn't controlled it could destroy Jahara and Garnia!" He began to panic.

Garnia got a firm hold on Jahara, beginning to absorb the energy. He looked over at Luka. "I've spent my whole life battling for nothing! Don't make the same mistake as me. Take care of her, Luka!"

A bright light followed, blinding everyone *.

"Garnia!"

When the light faded Garnia had disappeared and Jahara lay unconscious on the floor. Luka picked her up as the building began to crumble, causing the Tigeroids to panic. "We still have time to get out before the base is destroyed. The other warriors can still be freed if you hurry."

"Will you and Jahara get out?" Rai asked.

"Don't worry. You and I have battled for the last time, Rai." He left.

"Wait for me!" Duran caught up to him.

They would be able to reach the gateway to Suhn, their home-world. It could only be closed from one side, and it had to be done manually. He couldn't run, not with Jahara like this.

Duran went on ahead and came back, frantically gesturing and his words jumbled together.

"Duran, calm down."

"The room is locked with a Tai Chi character!"

"_What?"_

Duran was right; the room had a character on it.

Just when they got to the room the base shook, forcing Luka off balance. _He was too late…. 'Jahara…. I'm sorry….'_

After a few seconds the rumbling stopped. _What? The only way that could have happened was to overpower the Tai Chi symbols around, and that was only possible if- _Rai had been able to do that back in the other dimension….. He got back up and walked through the portal.

24-27 **(May contain spoilers after this point).**

They were outside now, in the middle of a forest. One of the few people he trusted lived around here, and probably already knew he was there. He continued walking, most of his concentration on Jahara. Duran stayed silent.

It was long before they came to a small house, where the Dragonoid Elder that lived there was waiting for him. **(Note that I still don't know this guy's name so he will be referred as Old Dude. I only saw a little bit of an episode with him and from what I can tell he's one of the best characters in the anime.)**

"Took you long enough. Not all of us can wait, you know."

Luka ignored him. "Jahara was just under the affects of the Hideous Tai Chi and she needs somewhere safe to recover."

Old Dude nodded. "Take her to one of the guest rooms. I'll check her over."

Luka nodded and did what he was told. As the Elder checked Jahara Luka bandaged the wound on his arm, having pretty much ignored how much it hurt and had underestimated how bad it was. Really, it felt and looked worse than it was. It would probably take a few weeks to heal at the most.

"Now what?" Duran asked.

"I'm sure _they _would be happy to see you." He smirked at Duran's cringe.

"Just… just like how happy _she'll _be to see you?"

…He forgot about that detail… And it wouldn't be long before _she _came here….

Old Dude came back. "If you want you can see her now. And don't go after Mishckha recklessly." How he knew that…. "She just needs to rest. She may not be able to remember what happened while she was under the affects of the Hideous Tai Chi."

Luka stood up, well out of the reach of the walking stick the Elder was so fond of hitting another on the head with, though that wouldn't help if he decided to jump . It was just a prop, really. Old Dude only used it to let the guard down of the Tigeroids and even Dragonoids down. **(I don't know if any of that is true. It kind of seems like something he'd do…). **In truth, he was much faster and had a lot more energy than even the most athletic warrior.

Luka knocked softly on the door before entering the room.

Jahara was lying on a bed, covered in blankets.

He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, indicating she had fallen asleep at one point, as now she twitched a little once in a while. This would be the first decent sleep she would get ever since Mishckha had used the Hideous Tai Chi on her.

In her sleep Jahara rolled onto her side, facing him. He gently stroked her cheek with his bare hand, something he'd never done before. She smiled and sighed Luka's name. Seeing her like this made him wonder what it would be like to wake up every morning to see her face.

For as long as it would take for her to awaken he wouldn't leave her. He couldn't fail at protecting her. Again.

* * *

**Wow this is officially the longest oneshot I'll ever write.**

***That part was edited in the dub.**

**I know this isn't the best thing I wrote. I kept getting stuck at certain points.**

**I didn't really edit Terra's lines just to get the point across of how annoying she is.**

**And if you think I should have expanded more on Luka losing control like he did more than once with being unable to control going in or out of Dragonoid State, I didn't because it would have been more difficult with how this is written. **


End file.
